Group of obstetricians seek legalization of anencephaly abortion in Peru

The Peruvian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (PSOG) plans to send a new “protocol” to doctors this week what would give the green light to anencephalyabortion in Peru.

Although abortion is not illegal in Peru in cases of the life of the mother, the newspaper “Medical Management” reported that the PSOG has drafted this protocol “amidst a lack of guidance regarding legalized abortion at the country’s hospitals.”

The protocol provides orientation to doctors on “how to act when they encounter the case of a fetus that will invariably die due to a hereditary deformation such as a deficiency in the cranium,” that is, in the case of babies with anencephaly.

Anencephalyposes no risk to the life of the mother and in fact, babies who are born with this condition normally die within hours or days after birth, and the condition is not a justification for legal abortion in Peru, which is why the PSOG announcement was a surprise.

The president of the PSOG, Valentin Jaimes, announced the protocol would be presented to members of the society on Wednesday and later will be sent to the Ministry of Health in order for it to be distributed in all of the country’s hospitals.